Writing & Beer, Not Necessarily In That Order

I’m gonna do a “cheat-post” again, today. Over the last couple of days, I’ve mulled over a few different ideas for this post, but none were really…well…worth a full post. So I’m going to employ the old (cheap) freelance trick of doing a “list” of things:

1) Poor Ahmed Best. I read a story earlier this week where he was lamenting the effect that playing Jar-jar Binks had on his career, and on his life overall. You can’t help but feel bad for the guy. He took on a role in the biggest movie franchise of all time, and he shouldn’t be punished for the fact that his character was…umm…not good. Okay, look, Jar-jar Binks is an abomination, I think we can all agree on that. The truth, however, is that Jar-jar isn’t the worst thing in the Star Wars series. Hell, Jar-jar isn’t even the worst thing in that particular movie! Can anyone actually say “midichlorians” without throwing up just a little bit in their mouth? Yeah, try to top that plot device for insulting the damned fans, I dare you. So, please folks, all of us fans need to give poor Ahmed Best a break and let him move on from the Curse of Jar-jar. Or, better yet, let him reprise the role, but do it this time as some badass version of Darth Jar-jar!

2) A warehouse storing whiskey barrels collapsed, ruining the poor, innocent booze aging away inside. All those barrels…all that whiskey… I cried. A lot. No, really — can I wear a black armband for something like this?

3) My niece is researching universities. Auditioning them, really, for the place that best fits her wants & needs. That, of course, means that family members are coming out of the damned woodwork to inflict all of their own prejudices and dreams and opinions onto the poor girl. Crap, folks…how about we just let her figure out where she wants to study? I have degrees from two universities that are about as diametrically opposed as it’s possible to be in every major respect: location, age, culture, population, education focus, take your pick. And you know what attending those two extremes taught me? There ain’t no magic, right answer…and that what mom & dad, or grandma & grandpa, or various uncles and aunts, want doesn’t matter even the slightest bit — well, shouldn’t matter the slightest bit. Of course, hearing about this whole process also makes me wax nostalgic about all those things I did back in school that I — ahem — don’t generally talk about in public. I do wonder, though, if I can still do a keg-stand…

4) Going back to work reminded just how valuable writing is to me. I haven’t actually worked for anyone else since I left a publishing company back in 2011, and it’s not…err…never mind, I don’t need to go into that again. On the other hand, it does give me added incentive to pick up the pace on some of the writing projects I have going. It doesn’t give me any time, mind you, but all the motivation in the world…